http://wvgazette.com/static/series/buffalocreek/NYDEN.html

Of course there are many other examples of energy accidents in the US that individually were much worse than all US nuclear accidents combined.

The 60 Minutes report was very intriguing, but it never went much in to the science of nuclear power.

That having been said, the only real nuclear accidents America has suffered were in plants that were built decades ago with unproven and untested technology, and in plants that were so wrapped up in red tape and governmental super-regulation that they could barely breath. Today’s manufacturing methods and knowledge of nuclear power generation are miles beyond what they were then, and if only we can let science and engineering savvy make the manufacturing decisions, we should be able to have relatively safe nuclear power within a few decades.

The safety record for atomic power plants has been closely scrutinized and reported for many years. Unless the industry is simply incredibly lucky, the bottom line is that it is safe. Almost everyone can list 50% or more of the industry’s accidents in a single breath. That is a pretty good testimony considering the fact that the industry has been around for 50 years and produces about 7% of the world’s energy.

There are certainly challenges facing the industry and the work is not done, but it sure seems better to me to use a technology that can be sealed up inside a submarine than one that must built tall smokestacks just to keep from fouling its own nest. Of course, that kind of waste handling simply moves the deadly fossil fuel wastes to somewhere else.

I am comfortable enough with nuclear power to want to put a plant in my own backyard and I am working with a number of investors that feel the same way. Of course, that is no reason to trust me - take a good look around the web and you can find out plenty of solid information about the technology.

Rod Adams
Adams Atomic Engines, Inc.

I would especially like to see more honest reporting of safety issues within this country. One example: the original Fermi plant near Monroe, MI was an experimental breeder plant that failed upon its startup & has been encapsulated since. As I recall, this accident was also a partial meltdown which was controlled at literally the last few minutes. Telling the whole truth makes all of us less skeptical than spin does.

I also recognize that solar & wind can supply only part of our electricity needs, although more research could improve their viability. Additional research into making coal environmentally friendly is also a good idea, both for use within the US & in countries like China & India.

I am well aware that we have roughly 100 operating nuclear plants in operation without a major accident for the past 25 years. Most of them are due to be taken off line within the next 10 years due to age. What will become of these plants, once closed? Perhaps they will be encapsulated in place, which is well & good until a major disaster like a severe earthquake splits them open. (Some are built on or near known fault lines.) Something to think about.

I refer to ‘concentrating solar power’ (CSP), the technique of concentrating sunlight using mirrors to create heat, and then using the heat to raise steam and drive turbines and generators, just like a conventional power station. It is possible to store solar heat in melted salts so that electricity generation may continue through the night or on cloudy days. This technology has been generating electricity successfully in California since 1985 and half a million Californians currently get their electricity from this source. CSP plants are now being planned or built in many parts of the world.

CSP works best in hot deserts and it is feasible and economic to transmit solar electricity over very long distances using highly-efficient ‘HVDC’ transmission lines. With transmission losses at about 3% per 1000 km, solar electricity may be transmitted to anywhere in the US. A recent report from the American Solar Energy Society says that CSP plants in the south western states of the US “could provide nearly 7,000 GW of capacity, or about seven times the current total US electric capacity”.

In the ‘TRANS-CSP’ report commissioned by the German government, it is estimated that CSP electricity, imported from North Africa and the Middle East, could become one of the cheapest sources of electricity in Europe, including the cost of transmission. A large-scale HVDC transmission grid has also been proposed by Airtricity as a means of optimising the use of wind power throughout Europe.

Further information about CSP may be found at http://www.trec-uk.org.uk and http://www.trecers.net . Copies of the TRANS-CSP report may be downloaded from http://www.trec-uk.org.uk/reports.htm . The many problems associated with nuclear power are summarised at http://www.mng.org.uk/green_house/no_nukes.htm .